A Space-Age Crib for a Couple That Sees Clutter as a Sin [Slideshow]

The perfect pad for anyone who hates clutter.

Children dream about being astronauts. Adults dream about... orderliness. Architect Dash Marshall has managed to merge the two to create the ultimate big-kid fantasy: a super-slick NYC apartment that looks poised for intergalactic orbit.

An Apartment for Space-Age Lovers is a scant 715 square feet of Jetsonian minimalism, of shiny, white walls and floors the color of moon dust and big, rounded windows, the better for gazing out over the majestic center of the universe (meaning, of course, Manhattan). Marshall characterizes it, almost poetically, as "life reflected in the curved glass visor of a space suit."

But the really impressive thing here is what's missing: Clothes, papers, toiletries — all the usual signs of human life. That was by design. The clients, a couple that Marshall describes cryptically as a "very international couple who write and do projects of various sorts," weren't after just a Space-Age aesthetic, they wanted Space-Age efficiency, too. As the architect tells it: They "wanted a place where every boot and book, every single little thing could be hidden away; they wanted something that would make the most out of their 715 square feet.?

Standard closets would've taken up too much space, so Marshall built something he dubs the (friendly) Black Hole: a zone in the center of the apartment, which contains a giant, mobile, floor-to-ceiling walk-through closet and movable partitions. By adjusting the partitions, the couple can extend either their bedroom or their living room (depending on their space and privacy needs) — meanwhile, all their stuff stays hidden. It's the perfect solution for people in tiny apartments, who don't want to live quite as minimally as an astronaut.